18-20 St John Street

▪ Grade II listed part of former Blackmoor’s or Black’s Head Inn (14-20 St John St)

▪ Probably dates to mid-18th century

▪ Inn proprietors can be traced from 1762

▪ Ceased to be an inn in 1825 then split into two properties, 14-16 & 18-20

▪ 18-20 then occupied by a draper, a tailor, and wool dealers

▪ From late 19th century:

➢ 18 was Hales’ printer and stationer

➢ 20 was Wigley’s boot and shoe maker

▪ Wigley’s occupy 18-20 from the mid-1960s onwards

18-20 St John St was built as one building with numbers 14-16 St John St. It is on the south side of the street between the Horse & Jockey yard (on the left/east side) and Hood’s Yard (on the right/west side).

The Building

The Grade 2 listings suggests that it is late-18^th century but the Blackmoor’s (Black’s) Head Inn, as a name, goes back to the early 18^thcentury. Built with bricks of similar size to the Green Man, the Blackmoor’s(Black’s) Head Inn was probably rebuilt no later than the mid-18^thcentury.

18-20 St John St is stuccoed with moulded plaster eaves and has a tiled roof. It is three storeys high with three flat headed windows with boxed frames, sashes with glazing bars on the first and second floors. The ground floor shop front is late 19^th century or early 20^th century.

The History of its Occupation and Use

The earliest mention of the Blackmoor’s Head thus far found dates to 1727 when Mr Mellor was the proprietor (see below left). A continuous series of proprietors can be traced from 1762 to 1817 with Charles Houghton and his wife Ann being the longest standing (1775-95). The last proprietor, from 1822-25, was John Thompson and he advertised that it “has undergone thorough repair and newly furnished” (see below right) which perhaps explains why no mention of the innhas been found 1818-21.

In June 1825 John Thompson announced that he was leaving the Black’s Head Inn and moving to the Royal Oak in Cheadle (see below left) and, because that was furnished, a sale by auction of the furniture (plus glass, china, horses etc)from the Black’s Head was arranged 5-9^th July 1825 (see below right).

During the period when it was the Blackmoor’s/Black’s Head, it was a regular venue for auctions advertised in the Derby Mercury and it also hosted meetings of the trustees of two turnpike (toll) roads:

1)    Derby to Ashbourne to Hurdloe House: 1784-1813. Derby to Ashbourne is the present day A52 and Ashbourne to Hurdloe House, now known asthe Bull i’ t’ Thorn, is the A515.

2)    Ashbourne to Belper Openwood Gate & Belper to Ripley: 1790-1823. Ashbourne to Belper is the present day A517.

After John Thompson’s departure from the Blacks’s Head in 1825, Thomas Maysmore occupied 18-20 St John St until 1863. After this the property was split into two:

18 StJohn St was occupied by a series of Berlin wool dealers and milliners: SarahLeason 1863-1870s, Mrs Elizabeth Train, Miss Hood and Ann Sarah Duckworth 1870s-c1894. Hales’, printer and stationer followed c1894-1965? After this John Wigley’s, the boot and shoe makers/dealers, expanded to occupy the entire 18-20 St John St property.

20 StJohn St was occupied by Henry Hood, tailor, 1863-1872 before he moved to 10 StJohn St, Granby House. After this, John Wigley’s, boot and shoemakers/dealers started their long association with the property which continues to this day (more than 150 years).